


Military Wives And Partners

by loves_books



Category: A-Team (2010), A-Team - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-22
Updated: 2013-07-22
Packaged: 2017-12-21 01:08:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/894017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loves_books/pseuds/loves_books
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the team are pardoned, Face and Murdock choose to return to the Army, while their respective partners Hannibal and BA decide not to. When the two men receive their first postings overseas, how will Hannibal and BA cope at home without them?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Military Wives And Partners

1\. The Decision

It’s the most difficult decision they’ve ever had to make.

At first, they are determined to make it as a team: either they all go back, or none of them do. After eight years as a team, and another five spent together on the run, none of them can imagine a life where they aren’t living together. Four men, two couples, one decision.

But it isn’t as simple as that. They never really talked much about it during those dark years spent running from the MPs; for all of them it was a dream, though each of them brought it up occasionally, usually after a couple of drinks. Never the big, life-changing decision, Army or not-Army, always the little things. Murdock wanted to do loop-the-loops in the newest Airbus. BA wanted to take his Mama on holiday to the Rockies. Face wanted to stay in the most expensive suite at the Burj-Al-Arab in Dubai. Hannibal always just smiled, dreaming of a day when he could kiss his boy openly in the middle of the street and not have to be looking over his shoulder the whole time.

The more they talk about it, the more difficult it becomes. Hannibal is determined to do whatever makes his boys happy, but they are all equally determined to do whatever makes each other happy and no one will be honest about what they want. Finally, Hannibal bites the bullet and announces he really doesn’t want to go back. He’s five years older than the last time he wore the uniform, five years nearer retirement, and, in all honesty, after Russ’s betrayal and the way the Army dumped them, he still doesn’t feel like forgiving and forgetting.

BA speaks up next, surprisingly. Usually the team’s quietest member – not difficult when that team contains both Murdock and Face – Bosco outlines a dream he’s nurtured for years, the dream of his own little workshop. Having the freedom during these years on the run, the freedom to create the things they’ve needed from scratch, to work on the different cars and vans they’ve ‘borrowed’… Well, he’s enjoyed that, and he really doesn’t relish the thought of stopping creating and fixing machines and going back to fighting and killing instead. 

Hannibal isn’t surprised. The big guy has been flirting on and off with his spirituality since their escape from custody, and he’d wondered which side he would eventually come down on. Both Face and Murdock hesitate only a second, sharing a look, before they agree with their other halves, that they will begin their lives as free men outside the army. Face snuggles into Hannibal’s side and twines his arms around his lover’s waist, while Murdock is far less restrained, leaping into BA’s lap and starting to babble about the fantastic workshop they will set up, and all the ideas he has already. Hannibal just smiles to see the look of sheer panic on the big man’s face. BA has clearly not thought things through to their logical conclusion: that Murdock would, of course, want in on his dream.

The night before they are due to inform the Army of their decision, Hannibal lies awake in bed with Face asleep in his arms. Or so he thinks. A hesitant voice speaks up, barely a whisper really, asking if Hannibal is sure of their decision.

Cautious probing from the (former) Colonel eventually gets an admission from his lover. Face isn’t at all sure he really wants to leave. The army is all he’s ever known, from the age of 22 (17, Hannibal corrects, but Face just smiles, still not willing to admit how young he really was), and he has no idea what he would do with the rest of his life. Hannibal knew his boy had missed the army routine, knew how much he had always lived for the mission, and they spend the rest of the night talking openly and honestly together, about how it might work if Face goes back and Hannibal retires as planned. They both love each other too much to not find a way to make it work, but neither of them wants to make the other unhappy by forcing them into a decision they aren’t comfortable with.

By the time the sun comes up, the decision is made. Face will return to being Lieutenant Peck while Hannibal will become a man of leisure (househusband, Face teases with a teary smile). Over breakfast, when they announce their decision to the other couple, a surprised look comes over both faces. Turns out, they’d had a similar late night conversation, and Murdock too wants to go back. The daily structure and routine, coupled with the ability to fly all sorts of daredevil missions (not too daredevil, BA interjects) mean that for him, as for Face, the pilot can’t imagine doing anything else with his freedom.

 

2\. Domesticity

And two weeks later it is done, Face and Murdock back in uniform and back in training at Fort Lewis, while Hannibal and BA find they have all the time in the world on their hands. Both of them are too practical to laze around for too long, and they throw themselves into the job of finding and moving into off-base houses, just a couple of streets apart. BA wastes no time at all in finding an old garage which he sets about transforming into a gleaming workshop, stocked with every tool he could possibly want, while Hannibal paints his new house and sands the decking and clears the garden, trying to break the habit of always being alert.

Hannibal though it would be an impossible habit to break, but actually, after a lifetime of being on a knife’s edge in the Rangers and on the run, his mind and body adapt surprisingly quickly to retirement. He throws himself into getting the house set up the way he and Face want it, having dinner ready on the table when his lover gets back from training each day (and having the takeout menus to hand on the frequent nights he burns it to a cinder). Face is full of joy at being back in uniform, looking forward to the day he returns to an Alpha unit and away from the day-to-day drudgery of life at the base, although both of them dread being apart and carefully avoid bringing up the subject.

They get a dog, an old rescue dog in need of a second chance (just like you, jokes Face, as Hannibal chases him through the house) and, a week later, a tiny white kitten joins their household as well. While technically they are John’s dog and Templeton’s kitten, they all fall in love with each other, despite Hannibal swearing loudly when his favourite sweatshirt is covered in white fluff, and Face sulking for a whole day when one of his expensive loafers is chewed up. In the evenings, their two pets curl up on the floor together as the two men curl up on the sofa, both content with their lives and still as deeply in love as they ever were. 

BA and Murdock come over some nights – Hannibal and Face’s house has the largest decking area, perfect for barbecuing, although they won’t let Murdock nuke the food anymore – but they are living their own lives together now, building their own home. The four men are still closer than any family, but they don’t live in each other’s pockets anymore. Hannibal mourns the loss for a short time, but eventually decides this is the way it should be, although he and Bosco help each other with their house renovations when needed, and Hannibal is there the day the younger man officially opens his workshop for customers.

They don’t advertise, but word soon spreads about BA’s Place (Murdock’s more creative suggestions for a business name having been lovingly turned down). Hannibal is quietly proud of his boy (man, he corrects himself) as he rapidly builds a reputation for being the most skilled, patient mechanic in town – ‘no job too big, small, or impossible’ boasts the hand-painted sign –and soon BA is even picking up some jobs from Fort Lewis, although he steadfastly refuses to set foot on the base. 

Of course it’s BA who comes into contact with the wives’ group first. Several of the military wives and girlfriends have taken their cars to him for repairs, and word spreads quickly about the two ex-military men living in town with partners on base and in training. Invitations to tea follow quickly, and invitations to dinner, and initially the two men politely decline, citing the need to work on their houses and support their other halves. The women coo at that, delighted to see how the men don’t feel the need to hide their relationships.

 

3\. The Women (and Men) Who Wait

There isn’t an organised group, as such. There is no central meeting room, no mailing list of members or contact list in case of emergencies. But there is a structure of sorts, a leadership of a kind as well as smaller groups of wives whose husbands work closely together. The wife of the base commander seems to know everyone and between her and her eldest daughter, a teacher at one of the local pre-schools as well as the girlfriend of a soldier on deployment in Iraq, they organise events and gatherings and coffee mornings, making sure every new wife or girlfriend is welcomed and included. 

Eventually, BA gives in and goes for coffee at one woman’s house, the wife of one of the on-base mechanics, and then Hannibal goes with him to an informal dinner when both Face and Murdock are off-base on a training exercise. Both men are peppered with questions about their lives, both pre- and post- pardon, though they politely refuse to give too many details about their relationships, wary of making life difficult for their lovers. After another few weeks, the women’s fascination with them both begins to relax into an easy friendship, as they share stories of everyday life mingled with the occasional tale of fear as their husbands and boyfriends are deployed in foreign climes. 

Hannibal spends several days (and one initial terror-filled night, Face entirely understanding and supportive) comforting the wife of a Major who has gone missing in Afghanistan. The military give her few details about the mission, and even less detail about where and why he is missing, and all Hannibal can do is sympathise. He’d never really thought about things from this side, the women waiting at home for the men in danger, and watches in amazement as the other wives rally around her. He notices how careful they are to stay positive, and notices how careful they are not to promise her anything. He offers what little he can about life on the other side of a classified mission, and the women gladly soak up whatever observations he shares.

After four days of carefully contained fear and worry, Hannibal is there when she gets the call she wanted and dreaded in equal measures: her husband is alive and on his way home to her, badly injured but expected to make a good recovery. He quietly excuses himself as the women begin to celebrate, and hurries home to his lover, needing desperately to feel Face in his arms, alive and well and safe. The time when Face will be sent abroad is coming closer, and that night he makes slow, sweet love to his boy for hours, eventually falling asleep as the sky begins to lighten, both of them exhausted and sated, wrapped tightly together.

While Face and Murdock both continue to excel in their re-training, due to receive their postings any day, Hannibal and BA find themselves gradually drawn further into the wives’ group. BA is constantly in demand for help with cars, air-con units, even simple things like toasters, and his workshop becomes a gathering place of sorts for some of the young sons (and a couple of the daughters) of the soldiers. He takes on one or two as unofficial ‘apprentices’ and starts showing them all the mechanical tricks he knows, while their mothers look on in wonder. Eventually, his business grows so much he can take on another full-time mechanic; a young man who has just moved to the area to follow his girlfriend, who is now posted at the medical unit on base. 

Hannibal seems to become an unofficial father-figure for many of the younger wives and girlfriends, often pulled from his DIY by a knock on the door, someone asking if he has time for a coffee and a chat. He always makes the time, finding he is happy to offer whatever help or insight the women need. Face always teases him gently about the way the younger women flock around him, although there is no real jealousy there, and Hannibal knows Face can’t really understand how it is for him, and for them, waiting at home while their soldiers are working.

A group of the older wives organise a picnic one day, for all the families and children, and BA organises a mini-bus for those with no transport, while Hannibal, somehow, finds himself volunteered to do some baking. Face teases him mercilessly when he arrives home one night to find the dog watching, bemused, as Hannibal is trying to put the frosting on several dozen cupcakes, some burned, others barely risen. There is more frosting on the floor than on the cupcakes, and their tiny kitten (not so tiny now) is happily licking up the creamy mess. Face scoops her up in one hand as he kisses his sticky lover, and Hannibal gladly accepts the offered help as they work together to get the cupcakes decorated to his satisfaction, happy to have the chance the next day to show his handsome lover off at the picnic when Face finishes work early and comes to join them.

 

4\. Separation

Murdock is the first to be sent on deployment, a team based in Afghanistan suddenly in need of a pilot. It’s short notice, and he flies out only two days later. BA spends the next two nights on the sofa at Hannibal and Face’s, unable to cope with the silence in his own house without his crazy lover. Hannibal knows they talked, before Murdock left, knows they’ve said everything they needed to say to each other, all of them far too aware of the risks involved in the life Murdock and Face have chosen. The life Hannibal and BA have rejected. Eventually, BA throws himself back into his new life, working harder than ever in his workshop, finding comfort in the friendship offered by the wives and girlfriends who know exactly how he feels.

For a time, Hannibal feels further apart from BA then he ever has. His own lover is still here, still living beside him, still safe. For now. Face is training with a new Alpha Unit, built from scratch, with a newly minted Colonel in charge, and Lieutenant Peck as XO. Face talks as much as he can about his new team, how strange it is at first to serve under a different Colonel, and Hannibal just listens. The initial pang of jealously fades surprisingly quickly, and he is surprised to find how little he really misses that life now, the training, the planning, the team bonding. Face comes home bruised and battered some nights, others he reeks of alcohol after a night out with the boys, though he is never drunk, and more often than not he is just exhausted mentally and physically. But above all he is happy, and Hannibal thrills to see how much Face is enjoying his work. 

The training sessions become longer, weeks spent in the wilderness as a team, and Hannibal tries harder not to think about the time when Face will be sent away from him, to Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan… There are so many possibilities, but he tries not to focus on them, concentrating instead on what he knows: Face is part of the newest, best Alpha Unit in the US Military, and wherever they are sent, they will be the best at what they do.

Murdock sends messages home whenever he can. He can’t tell his lover much about where they are, what they are doing – BA complains bitterly to Hannibal that he never realised how much he hated the term ‘classified’ – but they are all staying safe and working hard. After a couple of beers one night, with Face away from home yet again, Hannibal asks his friend if he regrets the decisions they made. If BA wishes he was alongside Murdock, or that Murdock was safely working alongside him in his workshop.

The other man doesn’t even hesitate with his answer, having clearly spent many a night wondering the same thing. No, he replies, there are no regrets. He misses his lover passionately, but he knows Murdock is doing an important job, a job he loves, and he wouldn’t tie his crazy pilot down for anything in the world. And he really, really doesn’t miss the Army life. As much as he loves Murdock, and Hannibal doesn’t miss the blush that creeps up those dark cheeks when the big guy admits that, he is eternally grateful that he never has to get in a plane or chopper with him again. And Hannibal just laughs softly, grabbing two more beers and gently changing the topic.

Another month passes, and Face gets the news Hannibal had been expecting. His team will be deployed in Afghanistan in two weeks’ time – same country as my crazy fool, comments BA wistfully when he hears – and while Face is buzzing with anticipation at finally getting back into the field, at the same time he and Hannibal both quietly prepare themselves for the agony of separation. They spend long evenings talking about anything and everything, their dog asleep on Hannibal’s feet and their kitten asleep in Face’s arms even as Face lies wrapped in Hannibal’s. They spend longer nights making love, bodies pressed as tightly together as they can possibly be. 

On the morning of Face’s departure, Hannibal sees him off at the front door, as he has done every morning since they moved in. They have said all they can say to each other. One last deep kiss, a passionate display that will get the neighbours talking, and his lover hoists his kitbag, throwing a perfect salute as Hannibal watches with pride. As Face climbs into the waiting car, Hannibal gives in to the urge to run after him, wrapping his arms around that strong chest one more time and whispering in his man’s ear. ‘Be safe’ and ‘I love you’. And then Face is gone, and Hannibal suddenly feels what BA must have been feeling for all these weeks Murdock has been away. 

Very much alone.

 

5\. Life Must Go On

Still, life goes on and, much like BA did, Hannibal throws himself back into his chosen life. The house is pretty much perfect now, though he still finds things to tinker with, little things that could be even more perfect. He walks the dog, or rather the dog walks him, having rediscovered his energy despite his advanced years. He watches as their fluffy little kitten grows into a fluffy fat cat who spends hours grooming herself, then he spends hours cleaning white fur from the sofa, the bedspread, his sweaters… But he’s glad he has them, those long evenings when he sits reading quietly, no need to prepare dinner for his other half, only the two creatures for company. 

Like BA before him, Hannibal also feels closer than ever to the wives and girlfriends who also have loved ones on deployment. The Major’s wife, her husband now in rehab after losing most of his right leg, makes a point of inviting him to every gathering she organises, and Hannibal is grateful for their positivity, especially as the days go by and he doesn’t hear from Face. 

He knows how it is, of course, in an Alpha Unit like the one Face is in. Highly classified missions, weeks out of contact, away from base. Hell, Hannibal ran the most successful A-Team ever. But none of them, with the exception of BA, had someone waiting back home for news. They never really thought about how hard it was to send word back to the US, how difficult it must be to be the one left behind. And while Hannibal’s head knows that Face is trained and ready for this, his heart is terrified that the love of his life will be captured or killed. That he won’t be there for Face when his boy needs him most.

Finally, a week after Face left him, Hannibal gets word. Not anything official, not anything from Face himself, but a young soldier returning to Fort Lewis for a week’s leave. A young Corporal who wanted to meet the legendary Colonel Smith – Hannibal just shakes his head, embarrassed at the look of worship on the boy’s face – and who had met Lieutenant Peck in transit, at a base near Kabul. The kid (not his kid, Hannibal thinks sadly) had been desperate to find something to take his Mother for her birthday, and was running out of time when he had crossed paths with Colonel Jackson’s new team. Within half an hour, the Corporal found himself with a fine selection of Afghan jewellery and some beautiful tapestries, courtesy of Lieutenant Peck, who had sent a brief message back to Hannibal when he learned where the young man was headed. 

When Hannibal finally asked what the message was, the young Corporal just smiled and said ‘Hi’. Just, ‘Hi’, and to say what had happened. That his team was there, safely.

Much later, when Hannibal was alone again – he’d told a few tales of the ‘good old days’ to the awestruck young man – he couldn’t keep the smile from his face, and set about baking his next batch of cupcakes for the coffee morning the next day. He was determined to have this recipe perfected by the time Face came home to him. He’d show his lover the true meaning of Domestic Goddess. 

 

6\. Waiting

And so time goes by. Hannibal and BA are both settled in their new lives, both spending as much time as they can with the wives’ group who know what they are going through. Murdock is able to get messages home more often than Face can, only ever short little messages saying he is safe and well. Words of love are rarely included, not needed. Hannibal sees how happy BA is after he receives a message, how every muscle seems to relax for a moment, before the big guy just nods and carries on as before.

One of the young girlfriends – now a fiancée, proudly showing off her ring – is heavily pregnant, and she is far from her family and a little scared. Hannibal takes her under his wing and makes sure she is included in the gatherings he goes to, helps her make some friends her own age. He is grateful for the distraction, and oddly choked when she hesitantly asks if he would be godfather to her son when he is born. Face would be proud of him, he thinks with a smile.

Messages from Face come rarely, and Hannibal gradually adjusts to not knowing where his lover is, what he is doing. It never gets easy, but the ache eases. He tries not to count the days between messages, tries not to be jealous when BA hears from Murdock. Several times, he gets word second-hand, from soldiers who have crossed paths with Face’s team in Afghanistan and swear he is well. They bring tales of how the team saved the day, telling Hannibal what they can without breaking that all-important label, ‘classified’. 

Hannibal is just returning from driving his young friend to the hospital, deep in the throes of labour, promising to return the next day to meet her new baby, when he spies BA waiting on his doorstep. The big guy is practically buzzing with excitement, clutching a piece of paper in his hands, and he all but throws himself at his former Colonel when he climbs from the car. Murdock is coming home, unexpectedly, in two days’ time. No reasons are given, and BA doesn’t even care. His lover is coming home, and the two men share a warm embrace, right there on Hannibal’s front step.

He watches affectionately over the next couple of days as BA bustles around keeping busy, getting his house ready for Murdock’s return. A huge part of Hannibal is excited to see his friend coming home, and he tries to ignore the tiny part of his brain that buzzes with jealousy, that Murdock is coming home to be with his lover when Face is still out there, somewhere, far from Hannibal’s side. He isn’t there when Murdock arrives home, letting the couple have their first moments alone and in private, but he hears later how Murdock had launched himself at BA, trusting the big guy to catch him, both of them delirious with joy at being reunited after so long apart. 

Murdock looks good, tanned and healthy, eyes focussed and clear, though there is something there that Hannibal can’t read. When they do sit down together, after several long embraces, Murdock sits close by Hannibal’s side rather than BA’s, and pulls out a letter. He’d only heard that afternoon, he says, when he arrived back at Lewis, found out that someone was coming to see Hannibal that very day. Hannibal’s heart stutters to a stop as he stares at that piece of paper clutched in his friend’s hand, and all his muscles turn to water, refusing to obey his demand to reach out, to take the letter, to see…

 

7\. MIA

Missing in action, Murdock tells him, hand shaking a little as he keeps the letter held out toward Hannibal. One team member found dead, the youngest, a kid fresh out of Ranger school. The other four members missing, including Face. He doesn’t yet know where, already having put in calls to every contact he has. He wants to fly back out straight away, to help find him.

Frantic, Hannibal counts back the days since he last heard from his boy. 19 days, nearly three weeks, although even that was only word-of-mouth from a returning group of soldiers who had met Face’s team a week earlier. Nearly a month, then. Dear god, a month since anyone had seen his boy. And suddenly Hannibal feels completely helpless. All he wants to do is get his team together, get their kit and move out, not stop searching until they find Face and his teammates. But Face is half a world away, and Hannibal is retired. Useless.

A second later his brain catches up with his heart. He is far from useless: even retired, he has contacts, old friends who owe him favours. He leaps into action, making calls to everyone he knows, begging for more information, but all he hits are brick walls. All he hears is ‘missing’. No one will even confirm for him that a rescue mission is underway, although thankfully Murdock’s contacts are a little more forthcoming. The border area of Pakistan, they find out, terrorists most likely, although Murdock assures him they don’t know for certain the team is captured, despite the death of one member.

A long, sleepless night. Hannibal doesn’t let BA and Murdock stay with him, preferring the company of his two pets. He sits on the edge of their bed, phone in hand, laptop by his side, Face’s white cat purring on his lap and their dog asleep at his feet. He waits for people to return his calls, wakes up old contacts who may be able to find out something, anything. But he learns nothing new, hitting the same brick walls over and over again. Any information they have is need to know only, and Hannibal doesn’t need to know, or so they say. 

Hannibal wants to fly out to Pakistan when Murdock goes early the next morning, but BA manages to talk him down. They are civilians now, as hard as it is to remember, and there would be nothing Hannibal could do, no team that would take him with them. Initially, Hannibal’s reaction is to declare that in that case he will go out by himself, find Face and bring him home safely, but again his brain kicks in. He has to trust that everything possible is being done.

Word has spread by this time, and their new friends start to rally around him, every supportive phone call making Hannibal’s heart leap in his chest as he waits for news. The Major’s wife spends most of the day with him, taking him to see his young friend, the new mother. But not even holding her tiny son in his strong arms can take his mind fully away from what Face might be going through, though he tries, he really does, joining in with the conversations as much as he can. 

As night approaches once more, after a day with no news from the military, Hannibal falls into a restless sleep on his sofa, unable to keep his eyes open a moment longer, nightmarish visions of his lover dead or dying swirling behind his eyes. He lurches awake hours later when a big hand gently shakes his shoulder. BA is holding out the phone to him, dark eyes moist in the faint light drifting through from the kitchen. 

The line is bad, crackling and full of static, but there is no mistaking the voice on the other end, and Hannibal feels the tight band around his chest ease at last as he hears Face, his boy, his love. He knows all the nuances of that smooth voice, and he can tell Face is exhausted and hurting, but the kid assures him he is fine. He can’t talk long, shouldn’t really be calling at all (Hannibal wonders how many favours his boy used up just to reassure him) but he’s safe, all his team are safe. Within minutes the line goes dead, and Hannibal is amazed to find tears of relief rolling down his face, as BA just wraps an arm around his shoulders in silent support.

The next day, the good news spreads rapidly throughout their little community, and Hannibal finds himself at the centre of the celebrations. The wives and girlfriends, as well as the few husbands and partners who have started to become more involved in their unofficial group, share Hannibal’s overwhelming relief, and he basks in their support and love, more glad than ever before that he and BA have met these incredibly strong people. That he isn’t alone through this.

 

8\. And Life Still Goes On

Now Hannibal knows even more intimately what these women go through, these wives and girlfriends who wait at home for news of their soldier partners, keeping their families going and supporting each other. Now Face is safe, he decides he needs another project, something to keep him occupied until his lover comes home to him, and he calls together the women who have become closest to him, as well as the women who are ‘in charge’. And BA, of course, always BA.

Together, they turn the unofficial wives’ group into something more organised, something official. BA helps them convert an old outbuilding into a centre for them: a useable kitchen, some offices, a play area. One group of wives take over the garden, another takes over the decorating, and Hannibal settles back to watch as things take shape, content for once to help when asked rather than taking the lead all the way through. And they ask him often for his opinions, on everything from what colour to paint the walls to what vegetables would be best to grow in the new veg patch. 

There are more coffee mornings and table-top sales, charity events and school fairs, and the time starts to fly by. Hannibal wonders how he ever found the time to work, as busy as the group keeps him. He joins in what activities he can, although he draws the line at the stitch-and-bitch group – no way is the infamous Colonel Hannibal Smith (retired) learning to knit, no matter how hard the women beg and plead for him to join them. When he drops in one afternoon to return a DVD one of the women had loaned him, he barely manages to keep a straight face when he spies BA sitting in the circle of clicking knitting needles, green yarn tangled around his ankles. The two men make eye contact briefly, then Hannibal makes his excuses and leaves rapidly. 

They never speak of the incident, though Hannibal can’t help but admire the green scarf BA wears when the weather turns colder. 

And then, finally, he gets the news he’s been longing for. Face is getting some leave. His boy is coming home to him at last. And, after he spreads the word to everyone he knows (and has a conversation with his two pets, who both stare at him as if they are listening, though he knows they can’t really understand) Hannibal immediately starts to plan, a habit he’s never been able to shake, even in retirement. Three steps ahead, that’s what he always taught his boys, and so he plans the first meal he will make, the perfect chocolate cake to have fresh out of the oven when Face walks in the door. The first time he will be able to kiss his handsome, brave Ranger in more months than he is willing to count.

 

9\. Homecoming

At Face’s request, he doesn’t go to the base to meet him from his transport. The restraint they would have to show, greeting each other in front of so many soldiers… Neither of them is a good enough actor to pull that off, even if their relationship is far from secret, and so Hannibal paces anxiously from room to room in their home, counting the minutes. The dog watches from the sofa, confused, while the cat has long since abandoned him in disgust, her food dish sitting empty. But still he paces.

Face’s plane should be down by now, and Hannibal checks his watch for the hundredth time, knowing how long post-mission debriefings and paperwork should take. Knowing what time the car Face has no doubt arranged for himself should be leaving the base. Knowing how long the drive takes. And so he is stunned when, an hour earlier than he expects, he hears the sound of an engine outside the house.

Before he knows it he is out of the front door and down the path, seeing that oh-so-familiar figure climbing out of the jeep, pulling a kitbag after him. As soon as Face sees him, the bag is abandoned on the lawn and suddenly Hannibal has his arms full of Ranger. Face’s arms lock tightly around his back, hands fisting his shirt as the younger man buries his head against Hannibal’s neck, and the world seems to fall silent around them as the retired Colonel rests his head heavily onto those soft caramel curls he has missed so very much, arms coming up and around to cradle his boy tenderly. For long minutes neither of them move, wrapped up in each other, words entirely unnecessary as they just breathe. 

Finally having Face back in his arms fills a hole in his heart Hannibal didn’t even realise was present, and he leans down to whisper in his man’s ear. I love you, I love you, I love you. And Face just clings tighter, breath hitching a little with emotion, until eventually Hannibal turns them both towards the house, keeping his arms locked around his boy until they are inside and the door clicks closed behind them. Only then does Face lift his head, a tiny smile on his lips, those bright blue eyes – so much more blue than Hannibal had remembered – shining with love. He slowly leans up as Hannibal leans down, and they kiss gently, slowly, bodies still pressed close, chests and hips and legs touching.

Hannibal had expected their reunion to be full of heated passion, a competition to rip the clothes from their bodies as fast as they could, a race to get to the bedroom or maybe just as far as the sofa, but this… This is so much more than he could ever have imagined. This feels like coming home. 

Face’s lips are so soft, and Hannibal is surprised for a moment before he realises that, of course, if anyone could find lip balm in the mountains of Pakistan, it would be his boy. Then he forgets how to breathe as his lover skilfully deepens the kiss, licking gently across his own lips and coaxing him open. Tongues tangle lazily together as hands roam gratefully over familiar muscled bodies. Face feels so very warm, so present, and Hannibal silently offers thanks to whatever gods there might be that his lover has come home to him, alive and in one piece.

The dog breaks the moment, padding through to the hallway and leaning heavily against Hannibal’s leg, knocking the two men off balance. They clutch at each other’s shoulders, Face smiling again, and they each whisper a quiet ‘hi’. Just like that, they fall effortlessly back into the lives they had before Face’s deployment. Hannibal takes his chocolate cake out of the oven and takes great pleasure in feeding it to his lover, one forkful at a time. The dog is delighted to see his other master back, refusing to leave Face’s side, while their cat is a little more standoffish, clearly not impressed at being abandoned for so long.

That’s not to say that there isn’t wild, passionate sex. The two men have never been apart for so long, and they don’t get much sleep that first night, taking great pleasure in relearning each other’s bodies, hands roaming desperately over firm muscles and stroking gently over strong limbs. Hannibal finds new scars on his boy’s body and soothes them with kisses, while Face finds his lover’s old, faded scars and ravishes them with tongue and teeth, and they make love over and over and over, until the sun begins to rise in the early morning sky.

They will talk for hours, of course, and they will meet up with Hannibal’s new friends. They will spend time with BA and, when he returns on his own leave in a fortnight’s time, with Murdock, the four of them back together once more. Face will laugh when Hannibal tells him about BA’s knitting, will be amazed at the new centre they have created for the wives and girlfriends (partners, Hannibal will correct) of serving soldiers. Hannibal will nurse Face through some new nightmares and revisit some old ones, just as Face will listen when Hannibal opens up about how terrified he has been the whole time his lover was away. And they will both agree that they made the right decisions, that, despite the difficulties, these are the lives they are meant to lead. This is what’s right for them both, right now.

But for that first morning, lying wrapped up together and watching the new day dawn around them, all that matters is that they are both alive, both together. Two free men, living the lives they have chosen, rather than the lives they have been forced to lead in the past. Together and in love. The way it should be.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for Panda77777 at ATeam_Prompts for this prompt:  
> Well here goes. Movie verse, pairings H/F and BA/M.
> 
> I would like to see the two alphas Hannibal and BA become army wives.
> 
> Maybe after they are cleared Face and Murdock are reinstated into the army because well it’s the only life Face knows and well Murdock want’s to fly. However Hannibal and BA decide not to maybe Hannibal want’s to retire and as Face properly turned him grey is getting him to look after him in his retirement and maybe BA wants to do his own thing. But Face and Murdock end up being deployed.
> 
> I would like to see Hannibal and BA being the one’s left at home and getting involved with an army wives group maybe by accident but at first being uneasy about it but then as time goes on get into the whole swing of it getting involved with bake sales etc.
> 
> Can be as fluffy with a touch of angst maybe Face goes missing or is wounded and they have to sit and wait to hear from Murdock but in the end they both come home and well I think you can imagine what would happen. But I leave it up to you talented writers.


End file.
